The average price for a gallon of unleaded regular fell below $4 Friday for the first time since April 1, according to price-tracking website GasBuddy.com. Friday’s average of $3.998 a gallon compares with a recent high of $4.264 on May 1.

Prices are falling because demand has flattened, while gasoline production has surged, Kloza said. The price of crude has also fallen. It spiked last month as Islamist militants captured the oil rich Iraqi city of Mosul.

And the decline is not just being seen in California. Nationally, the average price for a gallon of gas was $3.530 on Friday, compared with $3.701 in late April, GasBuddy said.

Other gauges also showed a decline.

According to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge report, a gallon of regular gas in California cost $4.015 on average Friday. A month ago, that average stood at $4.11.

As California gas prices climb, a group of moderate and pro-business Democratic lawmakers is voicing concerns about the cost to drivers of state regulations to curb carbon emissions set to take effect next year.

The consumer price index, a leading measure of inflation, fell last month into negative territory over a 12-month period for the first time since the fall of 2009, when the nation was just emerging from recession. It also fell from December, the third straight month-to-month decline.

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